Street Fight Daily: Amazon’s Powerful Lobbyists, comScore and Viacom Announce Multiplatform Deal
A roundup of today’s big stories in hyperlocal publishing, marketing, commerce, and technology…
Amazon Leans on Government in Its Quest to Be a Delivery Powerhouse (New York Times)
Amazon’s push to become a logistics and delivery powerhouse is most evident in the nation’s capital. The company has emerged as one of tech’s most outspoken players in Washington, spending millions and meeting regularly with lawmakers and regulators. Amazon has pushed officials on commercial drones, improving roads and bridges, and propping up a delivery partner, the United States Postal Service.
All That Glitters Is Not Gold: Separating Real Value From ‘Shiny New Things’ in Local (Street Fight)
Chris Black: Perhaps there is an industry epidemic of insecurity around the value provided to local businesses given the large market opportunity. Or perhaps some organizations still think there is business in obfuscating value long enough to make some profit, regardless of the damage.
ComScore Says Multiplatform Deal with Viacom Will Transform How Ads Are Bought (Adweek)
ComScore announced a multi-year cross-platform measurement deal that will allow Viacom to power its Vantage data platform with comScore’s measurement tools, meaning advertisers will be able to target specific consumers across Viacom’s properties and platforms. “This revolution in targeting, currency, and measurement is the equivalent of shifting from black and white to color,” said Viacom SVP of Data Strategy Bryson Gordon.
Ecommerce Is a $341.7B Industry — Can SMBs Get a Piece of the Pie? (Street Fight)
Matt Matergia: Small businesses can close the gap between online and offline commerce with some hard work and adherence to a smart strategy. Here are a few tips to get you started.
Uber’s Quest to Catch the Tourist Buck (VentureBeat)
Uber has recently rolled out a variety of features to help it achieve true global scale while simultaneously circumventing cultural blockades. Last week, for example, it launched UberPassport, a cross-border service that takes travelers from San Diego into the Mexican city of Tijuana. Passport signals a significant step forward for a company bent on becoming synonymous with “transportation.”
How Real Businesses Are Using Machine Learning (TechCrunch)
Lukas Biewald: Most of the conversation about machine learning in popular culture revolves around personal assistants and self-driving cars, but nearly every website you interact with is using it behind the scenes. Companies are investing in machine learning not because it’s a fad or because it makes them seem cutting-edge, but because they’ve seen positive ROI.
5 Times the Next Big Thing Failed to Kill the Last Big Thing (Adweek)
Scott McCorkle: One of my favorite debates in digital marketing goes like this: When will email be replaced by (fill in the blank)? When will brands stop using SMS? When will apps or Facebook kill the Web? So far, nothing has replaced anything in digital marketing. Instead, we’ve seen a layering of new digital channels on top of existing channels, which creates a rich tapestry of ways to connect with customers.
Mattermark Raises $7.3M at $42M Valuation to Expand Its B2B Search and Analytics Tools (TechCrunch)
Mattermark, a “B2B Google for professionals,” has raised $7.3 million in funding in a Series B round that now values the company at $42 million. Mattermark focuses not on a company’s internal data, but on the larger pool of data that exists on the public Internet — a vast trove of information that’s been a challenge to tap in any kind of automated way.
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